|
An alternative to the reductive, Darwinian theory of Jewish intelligence
A forthcoming paper (discussed here and here) posits a connection between the high IQ among Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews and the high incidence of certain diseases in the Ashkenazi population. Central to this approach is the theory that Jewish IQ was an evolutionary product of Jewish life in the Middle Ages. The social value Jews placed on skill in Talmud studies—which is fiercely demanding intellectual work—meant that the most intelligent men were rewarded by being able to marry the daughters of the wealthiest men and thus were able to have the most children, increasing the IQ in the Jewish population. A problem with this natural-selection theory of Jewish smarts is that the intense discussion of texts that later became the Talmud was already a Jewish practice in the time of Jesus, which suggests that Jewish IQ was high in the ancient world, centuries before the European Middle Ages. Alternatively, the natural-selection theorists argue that Jews in the Middle Ages were restricted by gentile society to managerial jobs such as money lending, which required intelligence, and that this situation favored the development of intelligence. The problem with this theory is painfully obvious: their gentile masters would not have restricted Jews to high-intelligence occupations unless the Jews had high intelligence. In contrast to the Darwinian view, that either a Jewish culture centered on incredibly difficult intellectual work, or anti-Jewish restrictions that forced Jews to take intellectually demanding jobs, created selective pressures favoring Jewish brains, I am suggesting that a pre-existing high Jewish intelligence led the Jews to create a religious culture centered on difficult intellectual work (the Talmud), and also qualified them for demanding secular intellectual jobs in banking and other fields. If my view is correct, the Darwinians have reversed the true cause and effect relationship. In reductive fashion, they would have us believe that something negative and material, i.e., social oppression of the Jews, produced something positive and spiritual, i.e., Jewish intellectual talent. The possibility doesn’t occur to them that the Jewish intelligence was there from the start, and that, having such intellectual gifts, the Jews naturally developed an intellectually demanding religion and were naturally suited for intellectually demanding professions.
I don’t know that my idea is correct. I raise it as a speculative possibility that ought to be considered, along with the natural-selection theory. This is especially the case since the natural-selection theory is also speculative. Notice how often the word “may” is used in the linked articles, as in, “such and such may be the cause of such and such.” Email entry |